Method and apparatus for converting network management protocol to markup language

Abstract

A method is provided to convert network management protocol request into a markup language representation. In one embodiment, the present invention includes receiving a network management protocol request at a network device, generating a plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags based on the received request, and responding to the request using the plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags using a unified backend interface. In one embodiment, routines used to generate the plurality of markup language tags and content are generated automatically using an instrumentation module.

1. A method performed by a network device including a data store modeled by an internal data format definition, the method comprising:
 at an instrumentation module of a network device,
 receiving a stub routine from a compiler, the stub routine corresponding to a network management protocol request, 
 accessing a mapping of the internal data format definition to a management information base (MIB) model structure of the compiler, wherein objects of the MIB model structure are mapped with respective objects of the internal data format definition, and 
 automatically generating an MIB routine from the stub routine, including inserting into the stub routine instrumentation code based on the mapping of the internal data format definition with the MIB model structure; 
 
 providing the generated MIB routine to a network management protocol agent of the network device; 
 receiving at the network device a network management protocol request; and 
 in response to the receiving the network management protocol request, the network management protocol agent processing the network management protocol request, including
 parsing the network management protocol request to extract a binary payload, 
 based on the extracted binary payload, executing the generated MIB routine, and 
 with the executing MIB routine, converting the extracted binary payload into a plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags, and 
 sending the plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags to an application of the network device in a request to access a management object of the data store. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising retrieving a value from a data store in response to the sent plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising embedding the retrieved value in markup language tags, re-packaging the retrieved value in network management protocol format, and providing the retrieved value to a requesting entity. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the management protocol request comprises a simple network management protocol (SNMP) request. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of markup language tags comprise a plurality of extensible markup language (XML) tags. 
     
     
       6. A method comprising:
 compiling for a network device a simple network management protocol (SNMP) management information base (MIB) modeled by an MIB model structure, the compiling to generate a plurality of stub routines, each stub routine corresponding to a network management protocol request, the network device including a data store modeled by an internal data format definition; 
 accessing a mapping of the internal data format definition to the MIB model structure, wherein objects of the MIB model structure are mapped with respective objects of the internal data format definition; 
 automatically generating an MIB routine from the plurality of stub routines, including inserting into a stub routine instrumentation code based on the mapping of the internal data format definition with the MIB model structure; 
 providing the generated MIB routine to a network management protocol agent of the network device; and 
 at the network management protocol agent,
 passing a payload of a network management protocol request as input to the MIB routine, 
 executing the MIB routine according to the passed input, the executing to convert the payload of the network management protocol request into a plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags, and 
 sending the plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags to an application of the network device in a request to access a management object of the data store. 
 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein compiling the MIB further generates the MIB model structure. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the plurality of stub routines comprise a Get, a Set, and a GetNext stub routine. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the MIB model structure comprises a C struct. 
     
     
       10. A network device comprising:
 a data store modeled by an internal data format definition; 
 an instrumentation module to receive a stub routine, the stub routine corresponding to a network management protocol request, the instrumentation module further to access a mapping of the internal data format definition to a management information base (MIB) model structure, wherein objects of the MIB model structure are mapped with respective objects of the internal data format definition, the instrumentation module further to automatically generate an MIB routine from the stub routine, including inserting into the stub routine instrumentation code based on the mapping of the internal data format definition to the MIB model structure; 
 a network interface to receive a simple network management protocol (SNMP) request from a manager; 
 an SNMP agent to receive the generated MIB routine from the instrumentation module, the SNMP agent further to translate the SNMP request, including
 parsing the SNMP request to extract a binary payload, 
 based on the extracted binary payload, executing the generated MIB routine, and 
 with the executing MIB routine, converting the extracted binary payload into a plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags; and 
 
 a configuration manager to perform backend processing of the translated SNMP request to access MIB information in the data store, including parsing the plurality of markup language tags. 
 
     
     
       11. The network device of  claim 10 , wherein the SNMP agent comprises at least one set of SNMP management information base (MIB) routines, each MIB routine corresponding with an SNMP request. 
     
     
       12. The network device of  claim 10 , wherein the network device comprises one of a switch and a router. 
     
     
       13. The network device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 an MIB compiler to generate a plurality of stub routines including the stub routing received by the instrumentation module. 
 
     
     
       14. The network device of  claim 13 , wherein the MIB compiler also generates the MIB model structure. 
     
     
       15. The network device of  claim 14 , wherein the instrumentation module comprises a mapper to define the mapping between the MIB model structure and the internal data format definition. 
     
     
       16. The network device of  claim 13 , wherein the instrumentation module comprises script code configured to populate the stub routines with extensible markup language (XML) tags. 
     
     
       17. The network device of  claim 13 , wherein the network device comprises one of a switch and a router. 
     
     
       18. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a network device, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 compiling for a network device a simple network management protocol (SNMP) management information base (MIB) modeled by an MIB model structure, the compiling to generate a plurality of stub routines, each stub routine corresponding to a network management protocol request, the network device including a data store modeled by an internal data format definition; 
 accessing a mapping of the internal data format definition to the MIB model structure, wherein objects of the MIB model structure are mapped with respective objects of the internal data format definition; 
 automatically generating an MIB routine from the plurality of stub routines, including inserting into a stub routine instrumentation code based on the mapping of the internal data format definition with the MIB model structure; 
 providing the generated MIB routine to a network management protocol agent of the network device; and 
 at the network management protocol agent,
 passing a payload of a network management protocol request as input to the MIB routine, 
 executing the MIB routine according to the passed input, the executing to convert the payload of the network management protocol request into a plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags, and 
 sending the plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags to an application of the network device in a request to access a management object of the data store. 
 
 
     
     
       19. The machine-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein compiling the MIB further generates the MIB model structure. 
     
     
       20. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a network device, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 at an instrumentation module of the network device,
 receiving a stub routine from a compiler, the stub routine corresponding to a network management protocol request, the network device including a data store modeled by an internal data format definition, 
 accessing a mapping of the internal data format definition to a management information base (MIB) model structure of the compiler, wherein objects of the MIB model structure are mapped with respective objects of the internal data format definition, and 
 automatically generating an MIB routine from the stub routine, including inserting into the stub routine instrumentation code based on the mapping of the internal data format definition with the MIB model structure; 
 
 providing the generated MIB routine to a network management protocol agent of the network device; 
 receiving at the network device a network management protocol request; and 
 in response to the receiving the network management protocol request, the network management protocol agent processing the network management protocol request, including
 parsing the network management protocol request to extract a binary payload, 
 based on the extracted binary payload, executing the generated MIB routine, and 
 with the executing MIB routine, converting the extracted binary payload into a plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags, and 
 sending the plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags to an application of the network device in a request to access a management object of the data store. 
 
 
     
     
       21. The machine-readable medium of  claim 20 , the operations further comprising retrieving a value from the data store in response to the sent plurality of markup language tags and content embedded in the markup language tags. 
     
     
       22. The machine-readable medium of  claim 21 , the operations further comprising embedding the retrieved value in markup language tags, re-packaging the retrieved value in network management protocol format, and providing the retrieved value to a requesting entity.